Adele Earns $50 Million Without New Tours or Albums

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Pop, R&B / Soul,

Adele earned $50 million in 2013 without touring or releasing any music.

The Skyfall singer's Melted Stone company revealed a turnover of $50 million for the past financial year, which was filed this week with Companies House. According to reports in The Sun newspaper, Adele took home $19.8 million, which included a $8 million pay package and a $11.8 million dividend.

Her huge income was earned despite not releasing any albums or singles, and she didn't go on the road to play a run of live shows. However, the success of her album 21 has boosted her bank balance, despite being released three years ago.

Although Adele has been quiet musically for a while, she has been raising her 16-month-old son Angelo, with work now starting on her highly-anticipated third album.

Gallery: Adele Earns $50 Million Without New Tours or Albums

Miley Cyrus Doesn’t Mind if People Don’t Buy ‘Bangerz’

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, The Charts, Pop, New Releases,

Miley Cyrus doesn't mind if people don't buy her Bangerz album.

The "Wrecking Ball" singer claims she wouldn't have cared if her latest record - which was a number one album in the US, Australia and the UK - wasn't a huge seller as she is comfortable financially and more interested in making an artistic statement with her music.

"I've made my money. If no one buys my album, cool. It's fine. I've got a house, and I've got dogs that I love. I don't need anything else," she told W.

Miley, 21, may be seen as a hard-partying figure with her notorious live appearances in skimpy outfits with her tongue hanging out, but she insists when she is at home in California she rarely goes out: "I never leave the house. Why go to a movie? I've got a huge-ass TV. We've got a chef here that can make you great food. We don't need to leave. I would just rather be here where I'm completely locked in."

Gallery: Miley Cyrus Doesn’t Mind if People Don’t Buy ‘Bangerz’

Britney’s Las Vegas Show Is a Hit

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Concerts / Tours, Industry News, Pop,

Britney Spears' residency is already the best-selling Las Vegas show of the year.

The "Perfume" singer, who kicked off Britney: Piece Of Me at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on December 27 last year, has already outsold Las Vegas residencies by Celine Dion, Elton John, Shania Twain and Rod Stewart. It is also the third highest-selling residency ever, behind Elton John's, which began in 2009, and Celine Dion's show, which started in 2011.

The 32-year-old star has only performed four shows so far, but tickets are on sale for concerts through to September. According to ticket website StubHub, 14 per cent of all tickets sold for Britney's show so far this year were for her February 14 concert, although they have declined to provide exact sales figures.

A number of big names have already been to see Britney live in Las Vegas, including Katy Perry, Adam Lambert and Miley Cyrus, who was seen dancing on the front row during the first 90-minute show in December.

Gallery: Britney’s Las Vegas Show Is a Hit

Miley Cyrus Ready to Take Beyonce’s Pop Crown

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Gossip, Pop, R&B / Soul,

Miley Cyrus thinks Beyonce's pop career has peaked.

The "Wrecking Ball" singer has claimed the star is out of touch with modern music and believes she can take her place at the top of the music ladder, Speaking in the new issue of Love magazine, Miley said, "Beyonce has been a big inspiration to me but she's been out for such a long time. She's so talented and I think she's at the top of the game now but people are always looking for new blood and that's what I bring to the game now, new blood, I got the total package you know, the curves, the rhythm, and the voice. I'm just the best."

Miley, 21, is determined to knock queen of pop Beyonce, 32, off her throne and believes her rival's focus is now on raising her daughter Blue Ivy - who turns two next week - with her husband Jay Z: "As Beyonce grows in motherhood and all the crap it does to your body, it will create a vacuum for fresh young faces to rise up and no one else can properly fill that void right now. I'm the only white female singer that could fill that slot right now and do it right.

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Gallery: Miley Cyrus Ready to Take Beyonce’s Pop Crown

Mumford and Sons Pretend to Be Irish

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Concerts / Tours, Gossip, Alternative, Folk, Rock,

Mumford and Sons say convincing people they're Irish is the secret of their success.

The "I Will Wait" band is from England, but their use of traditional instruments - including accordion, mandolin and double bass - and close harmonies means some people mistake them for being from neighboring Ireland. "Everyone thinks we're Irish. There's an Irish bar in every town - it's the secret of our success," keyboard player Ben Lovett said.

Banjo player Winston Marshall also points out the roots of their sound and some of their instruments, such as the banjo, aren't even from Europe, adding, "We're in a long line of English people pretending to be Americans and not being as good as Americans."

The band - also including Marcus Mumford and Ted Dwayne - are known for spending long periods touring around the world, particularly in the US, but aren't huge fans of having to do it in a bus. "I went camping on a stag weekend and hated it. [And] you can't s**t on the bus. You still brush your teeth outside and spit it out, just like on a campsite," Marcus added.

Gallery: Mumford and Sons Pretend to Be Irish

Beyoncé: I Was Really Nervous About Releasing New Album

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Music Videos, The Charts, Pop, R&B / Soul, iTunes, New Releases, Sales,

Beyonce was "really nervous" about the surprise release of her self-titled LP.

The "Drunk in Love" singer, who is celebrating selling more than one million copies of her fifth studio record, admits it was a "huge risk" releasing it without any prior promotion. She answered fans' questions via her Instagram account at the weekend at a screening for the record's accompanying music videos.

"I was terrified. I was so scared. I already envisioned like the worst things that could happen. Honestly, I was at a point where I felt like, you know, everything feels the same. That's how I felt and if I could not challenge that, then maybe it's time for me to do something else or develop more artists, which is something I want to do," she posted. "I just hope that I continue to move forward and challenge myself, and I think now that I've become a mother, I just want my legacy to inspire people."

Meanwhile, retailers such as Amazon and American company Target are refusing to stock Beyonce after it was released exclusively on iTunes. The digital giant were given a one week exclusive window to sell the 14-song, 17-video album, which features contributions from Drake, Jay Z and Justin Timberlake.

Gallery: Beyoncé: I Was Really Nervous About Releasing New Album

Freddie Mercury Inspires Psy

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Performances, Pop,

Psy wanted to be Freddie Mercury while growing up.

The "Gangnam Style" hitmaker found himself mesmerized with Queen's live performance at London's Wembley Stadium in 1986 and admits he would watch it on loop when a child in South Korea, admiring the stage presence of the iconic singer during the concert.

"If it wasn't for Queen at Wembley, I wouldn't be a pop star. When I was growing up I would watch Freddie Mercury with all those fans in the palm of his hand. He is the best," he said.

Freddie isn't the only Brit Psy - real name Park Jae-sang - credits for helping him becoming famous as he revealed "Candy" singer Robbie Williams helped thrust him into the limelight after sharing his first single via his official Twitter account: "Robbie was one of the first to tweet 'Gangnam Style' so I feel I owe him a lot."

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Gallery: Freddie Mercury Inspires Psy

Jennifer Lopez: Women Rule Music

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Pop,

Jennifer Lopez believes "women have taken over the music industry."

The "Live it Up" hitmaker insists she's been in the trade for so long that she's definitely "here to stay" and that a lot of male artists aren't doing as well because females have been breaking the industry for over 20 years.

"Women have taken over the music industry - when you think of all the female artists who are out. Even going back 20 years, back to Cher, Gloria Estefan and that whole time with Mariah Carey and Celine Dion and then the next wave which was me and then Britney [Spears] and Beyonce to what's continued to now the Rihanna and Lady Gaga. With all these people there have been a few guys - but we have really had it on lock for a bit."

Gallery: Jennifer Lopez: Women Rule Music

Scooter Braun: Psy Is Fun

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Gossip, The Charts, Dance, Pop, New Releases,

Psy is so successful because he's good fun.

The South Korean rapper's music manager Scooter Braun thinks - who is also partly responsible for Justin Bieber's stratospheric rise to fame - believes the "Gangnam Style" hitmaker has become a global sensation despite not singing in English because of the hilarity of his dance moves.

"People love to watch that guy dance. It makes people have fun, and I think music should be a release," he said.

Psy's second international release, "Gentleman," has racked up 224 million views since April 13, which Scooter - who signed the rapper to his label School Boy Records last year - believes could catch up to his 1.5 billion views for "Gangnam Style" if he keeps making people laugh: "It went like Number One [in the video chart] in, like, 52 countries, so it was kind of mind-blowing for us. But he's just fun. And I think he's coming to the US at the end of this week to start performing it on TV, and around the world. And he represents having a good time, so good for him."

Gallery: Scooter Braun: Psy Is Fun

Chad Kroeger Doesn’t Get Nickelback Remixes

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Remixes, Rock,

Chad Kroeger doesn't understand Nickelback's dance remixes. The "Too Bad" rockers' songs get changed to fit with many different countries around the world, but the singer and guitarist prefers to their hard rocking originals.

"Yeah, there's been tons or remixes with dance beats and all that kind of stuff. It's always for some territory like Timbuktu, where there's only one radio station and the whole territory and the guy is like, 'It's top 40 and they love it' cos its got a rhythmic beat to it!" he said.

Chad also joked the practice of remixing songs once they become popular must upset some people, such as Gotye, who had a surprise worldwide hit with "Somebody That I Used to Know" earlier this year. "You look at an artist like Gotye, and I'm sure he thinks of himself as a really cool indie guy with street cred and now it's just like, 'boom boom boom, [sings] 'You didn't have to cut me off' boom boom boom.' That must really twist his soul!" he added.

Gallery: Chad Kroeger Doesn’t Get Nickelback Remixes